Door clamp



Patented Oct. 20, 1925.

UNITED mt'wis .1. fiA RGE'R; or nutnwoon. massif.

noon CDAMZP.

A plication M August 14.11923. sentient. 57,314..

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known that I, L WIS J. BABGER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Maplewood, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door Clamps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a door clamp or auxiliary vise and, more particularly, to a clamp for holding doors when fitting them and cutting out for hinges preparatory to hanging them in door frams and for holding other objects for similar purposes.

In fittingdoors heretofore, it has been customary to hold the door in an upright position in the door opening by means of wedges or a wedge structure which is hammered together about the door and, after the work is completed, is knocked apart. The wedging of the doors in this manner requires j considerable work and involves some difficulties and, in addition, is not entirely satisfactory or convenient in use.

An object of the present invention is to providea holding device that may be readily and quickly set up to hold a dooror other objectrigidly in vertical osition convenient for fitting or planing.

Other ob'jects of the invention are to revide ahol'ding' device of this type whic is of simple and unitary c nstruction adapted to be carriedfn a tool chest and to provide a. clamping device or auxiliary vise which may be readily adjusted to clamp doors or objects of various thicknesses.

WVith these and other objects in view, the invention comprises the device described and set forth in the following specification and claims.

The various features of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. l is a side view of a clam ing device embodying a preferred form 0 the invention, the device being shown in outline in dotted lines in clamping position on a door also indicated in broken lines,

Fig. 2 is an end view of the clamping device of Fig. 1 in clamping or holding position on a door,

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional View of the clamping device taken on line 3-3 of Fig. l, and,

Fig. 4 is a detail view of a portion of a spring element forming ing device.

In the present invention the door or other object to be held is placed betweenfa pair of clamping blocks which are held in spaced i equal to the width of the ost by a holding means at the lower. edges of the blocks. This holding means also acts as a spring to hold the blocks slightly tilted on their ,farther corners or eddessothattlie opposih vertical faces of the block's diverge slr htly up ardl'y' to permit the door to hep aced therebetween. *Whsn the weight; of the door bearsdownwardly on the spring holdin g element, [the blocks turn on theirffar'ther edges, which rest on the floor, bringing the opposing vertical faces of the blockstight 1y against the faces. of the door. and, as the -holding.elenient holdsthe blocksto a distance just equal to the thickness 'of' the' door,

the door. is thus tightly clamped between the blocks. Toenabl the clamping, device to beused'o'n doors of various thicknesses, the holcling' means is .adjustably attached to als he provided with fibrous resilieht facinggor pad to avoid marrih "the comprises a pair of clamping blocks 10 and 12, having vertical faces 14 and'16 at substantially right angles to their lower faces 18 and 20. Longitudinal grooves 22 and 24 are cut in the lower faces 18 and 20 and to the upper face of these grooves is attached a common connecting strap 26 which holds the blocks to each other at a definite dis tance apart. The strap 26 is of spring steel or other suitable spring material, and is given a slight upward bend at the portion 27 between the two blocks so as to cause the blocks to tilt upwardly about their outer end edges 28 and 30 and cause the inner vertical faces 14 and 16 to diverge upwardly. Accordingly, if a door or other object 32 be inserted between the faces 14 and 16 and permitted to rest on and depress the portion 27 of the spring or holding element 26,

part of the clampelation at a distance from each other 'one or the blocks; sothat, b' adjiisting the 1 position of this block r lativelyto theholdilig eleihent, the distance bywhieh the blocks spaced apart be adjusted.

o posite, vertical fates of i the blocks 4 which ear-agathst, the.-s rrhces ofth door strap 26 between theblocks must be just the the blocks 10 and 12 will turn on the edges 28 and 30 and'b'e' broughtagainst the faces of the door with a force which *is much greater than the weight of the door and suflicient to hold the door. in position for most purposes.

It will be apparent that to have the blocks. tightly clamp the door, the portion 27 of the thickness of the door, or in case a tighter clamping effect is desired, just a trifle less than the thickness of the door. To enable the blocks to be so spaced and held as to effectually clamp doors of various thicknesses, the strap 26 is adjustably attached to the block 10 by means of a bolt 34 passing upwardly through a bolt hole 36' in the'block and through an elongated slot 38 in the strap 26. The head 40: of .the bolt 34 is tightly clamped against the lower face of the-strap 26 by means of a. thumb-nut 42 threaded on the upper projecting portion-of the'bolt and bearing againstthe upper face "of a shoulder 44 on the bolt. The strap 26 may be similarly connected to theother block 12,

. prises, a pair of blocks having a lower plate,

but, as an adjustment for both blocks is ordinarily unnecessary, the strap may be connected to this block by means of screws or rivets 46 or other permanent means. By

loosening the thumb-nut 42, the position of the strap 26 on the block 10 may be adjusted and the bolt may be then tightened to hold the block in its adjusted position. i The blocks may be of any suitable form but, in the interest of lightness and strength, they are preferably formed of a fiat vertical "plate 48, a horizontal plate 50 integral there with, and of suflicient depth or thickness to receive the groove 24, and of a vertical strengthening rib 52 of substantially triangular form, integral with the face plates48 and 50. The vertical face plate 48 is preferably jwidened at its upper end as indicated at 54 in order to distribute the pressing stress at this place; In order to avoid mar- 'claim and desire to ring the surface of the door 32, the plate 48 is hollowed or grooved in its outer face to form a pocket 56 in which is placed a pad 58 of resilient material projecting beyond the face of the plate 48. This pad may serve to take up the pressure of the blocks against the surface of the door and thus enable a larger pressure to be obtainedthan would otherwise be permissible. The faces 14 and 16 have been described and shown as disposed at right angles to the lower faces 18 and 20, respectively, asthis is the usual and preferred construction, but it is to be under.- stoodthat this angle may be varied to suit varying conditions of use.

As changes of construction could be made within the scope of my invention, it is desired that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having described the invention, what I secure by Letters Patent A device of the type described which comstrap to said block, said strap and the head of said bolt being contained in said groove, and a resilient surface on the opposed faces of the upright plates of said blocks.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

LEWIS J. BARGER. 

